When I decided to become an author and actually claim that title as my new identity, I also took on a scope of challenges I never expected. Still, I wouldn’t turn back the clock for anything. Being an author is more who I am than any other professional job I have done. This doesn’t diminish the challenges.
Unlike most professions, authors can work for years with no visible reward for their efforts. Sometimes an author might get the validation of family and friends, but others are told they are just wasting their time or that the field is saturated. Writing a novel is by far the worst way to make an income. You are more likely to win the lottery than hit it big financially with writing. Still, thousands of people continue to write and call themselves writers.
As I write this blog, the discouragement is very real. I am not alone in writing agent after agent and hearing nothing back, or sending out short stories and novel manuscripts that disappear in a slush pile. Hundreds of talented writers hit brick walls towards getting published, so they seek self-publishing. Today, it is easy and cheap to get your novel out there, but it still doesn’t mean it will sell. You then must learn how to market your book, get reviews, and create a buzz. The quality of the novel does matter, but it is sometimes surprisingly hard to get a person to give your book a chance. The title and cover of the book carry more weight than I ever imagined.
And still, writers write.
Why is that? I write because I have a story to tell. It pours out of me, and I am obsessed with it. I really hope that others will like my story and benefit from it. Whether or not they do, I still feel the need to write at all cost. There is an unreasonable hope and faith that this story is of value that keeps me sending queries out over and over again. I read story after story of famous authors who walked the same journey of hope and faith. Novel after novel was only published after twenty inquires and piles of negative feedback. Insults and personal attacks are common even among the most celebrated classics.
So what keeps me going? Faith. I know I may work years before I reach the various goals I have set before myself, but I do believe I will get there. I have read enough biographies to know that the faith that produces action is the only secret to success. How long does it take to become a successful author? However long it takes.
Check out my young adult fantasy fiction novels HERE for something optimistic and fun.
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